弘明集 9.100

9.100

答曰。若均是聖達本自無教。教之所設實在黔首。黔首之情常貴生而賤死。死而有靈則長畏敬之心。死而無知則生慢易之意。聖人知其若此。故廟祧壇墠以篤其誠心。肆筵授几以全其罔己。尊祖以窮郊天之敬。嚴父以配天明堂之享。且忠信之寄心有地強梁之子茲焉是懼。所以聲教煦於上風俗淳于下。周此道也。故經云。為之宗廟以鬼享之。言用鬼神之道。致茲孝享也。春秋祭祀以時思之。明厲其追遠。不可朝死夕亡也。子貢問死而有知。仲尼云。吾欲言死而有知。則孝子輕生以殉死。吾欲言死而無知。則不孝之子棄而不葬。子路問事鬼神。夫子云。未能事人。焉能事鬼。適言以鬼享之。何故不許其事耶。死而有知輕生以殉是也。何故不明言其有。而作此悠漫以答耶。研求其義死而無知。亦已審矣。宗廟郊社皆聖人之教迹。彝倫之道。不可得而廢耳。

The reply: If all were sage-like and fully comprehending, originally there would be no need for teachings. The establishment of teachings is aimed at the common people. The inclination of the common people is always to value life and despise death. If death retains a spirit, it nurtures a mind of awe and reverence; if death lacks sentience, it generates a disposition of negligence and disrespect. Sages knew this to be so; therefore, they set up ancestral temples and sacrificial altars to deepen people's sincerity, and spread mats and offered armrests to preserve their boundless grief. They honored ancestors to reach the utmost reverence in the suburban sacrifice to Heaven, and venerated fathers to match Heaven in the Hall of Light offerings. Furthermore, the commitment to loyalty and trustworthiness found its foundation, and unruly sons grew fearful because of this. Thus the transformative teaching warmed from above and customs became pure below; the Zhou dynasty embodied this way. Therefore the classic says: 'Set up ancestral temples for them, and offer sacrifices to them as ghosts.' This means using the way of ghosts and spirits to convey such filial offerings. Sacrificing in spring and autumn to remember them in season clearly encourages pursuing the distant past, not allowing death to mean instant disappearance from morning to evening. Zigong asked whether the dead have sentience, and Zhongni said: 'If I were to say the dead have sentience, filial sons would discard their lives to follow them in death; if I were to say the dead lack sentience, unfilial sons would abandon them without burial.' Zilu asked about serving ghosts and spirits, and the Master said: 'Before you can serve people, how can you serve ghosts?' Having just spoken of offering sacrifices to them as ghosts, why did he not permit serving them? Saying that if the dead have sentience one would discard life to follow them confirms this. Why did he not state clearly that they exist, but instead gave such an evasive reply? When we thoroughly investigate its meaning, that the dead lack sentience is already clear. Ancestral temples and suburban sacrifices are all traces of the sages' teachings; the way of the regular relations cannot be discarded.